New car marketNewsCV ShownewsUsed caranalysisNews RecruitmentdigestDealer profileShowroomas revenue falls by £17.3mCambria's turnaround plans have not yet had time to bear fruit, allowing it to be less new car dependent. Everyone complains about aftersales pressures, but volumes should be holding up as people have their cars serviced rather than replacing them.Things can only get better for Cambria as long as it works on the turnaround plan, sticking at it with the right formula.www.am-online.com/ami"The board foresaw that this trading period would be particularly difficult and undertook a cost rationalisation programme to ensure the group was better prepared for the challenging economic outlook for the period under review and throughout the coming trading periods. "The cost rationalisation programme was concluded at the end of our first quarter. "The balance sheet and liquidity continues to be strong and this gives us confidence that we enter the second half of the financial year well equipped to deal with the short-term challenging economic conditions. As the economic conditions improve over the medium term, we believe that Cambria is well placed to capitalise on improved growth in volumes, profitability and expansion opportunities."He said the important March and April trading periods were in line with theb previous year, and that the March new retail registrations showed some "signs of recovery."Cambria's new vehicle sales fell 9.8% year-on-year to 3,502 from 3,882 units in 2011; the private retail element reduced 3.4% against a market down 8% year-on-year.New vehicle gross profit reduced by £1.3m with margin reducing 0.6% as a result, Lavery said, of multiple pres-sures facing manufacturers.Used vehicle gross profit was up £0.3m, and a 0.8% point margin improvement to 9.5%, against unit sales down 4.5% year-on-year. Aftersales revenues reduced by 2%, with gross profits decreasing £0.4m. Lavery said the Vauxhall acquisition was the first of what he expects to be a developing rela-tionship with the manufacturer with new sites added "to make it a primary brand partnership".'As economic conditions improve Cambria is well placed to capitalise on improved growth'Source: AMI

NewsJCT600 sees revenues rise, but profits are downMajor capital investments made during year will deliver increased returns and cost savingsBy Tim RoseAM100 dealer group JCT600 recorded a 1.3% lift in revenues to £623 million in 2011, its recently-published annual results revealed.Pre-tax profit on ordinary activities dropped to £8.5m from £12.3m following significant invest­ment in the business and squeezed margins in the difficult trading conditions.The family-owned Yorkshire-based motor retailer increased its new car volumes by 1.3% and used car volumes by 4% during the year, against nationally declining markets. Service revenues grew by 1.1%, and its leasing division, JCT600 Contracts, also grew vehicle sales by 1.3%.JCT600 group chief executive John Tordoff said extraordinary capital investments, including £330,000 in solar panel technology for power generation, £5m in additional lease vehicle stocks to support the expansion of the JCT600 Contracts business, and £2.3m in the property estate and IT systems "pegged back" the level of profitability, but are expected to deliver increased returns and cost savings over future years. "We have seen margins hit with the cost of manufacturing, fuel and other overheads rising at the same time as we are feeling the impact of customers having less money in their pockets. However, overall we are pleased that our posi­tioning and strategy has protected our turnover and returned a healthy profit after increased investment in staff training and IT systems that will benefit the business in the future," he said. "We remain alert to increasingly tight margins in the sector with rising vehicle costs and a fairly static level of consumer confidence suppressed spending power. "We, like many other businesses in a variety of sectors, continue to work harder and operate in a more efficient way, but we maintain a focus on future strategy and investment in our core asset, our remarkable workforce," Tordoff said.Source: AMiJCT600AM100 average